My Story
Three things have always guided my journey:
Will this have a positive outcome in the world?
Will I learn something new and be challenged?
Will I have fun?
Scroll below to read more about my journey.
An Immigrant Looking To Build Community Everywhere
I am a first-generation immigrant in the USA, but I don’t fit a lot of people’s stereotype of an immigrant because of my upbringing. My experiences navigating both familiar and novel opportunities inspired me to create places where anyone’s personal narrative and story can be welcome. It also inspired me to take on inter-twined creative journeys in the worlds of software development, children’s book publishing, podcasts, community theater, art, policy,
long-distance running, and voting rights.
US Citizenship oath swearing ceremony, July 2019
“I am the opposite of a lone wolf, even though I am able to operate independently and with commitment.”
— Neha Shah
Learning From My Parents
Technology has always been a big part of my life. My father was an electrical engineer who got into the software industry. He pursued a career in Doha and Dubai before moving back to India in the mid-90’s, which is why I had the opportunity to grow up in three different countries. My mother had a successful tenure as middle school teacher during our time in the Middle East. She also briefly worked for the Censor Board of Qatar, reviewing and identifying objectionable print media content before it was distributed widely across the country. Both of my parents ensured I had every opportunity to learn and realize my potential.
When my family moved back to India, I spent my teenage years in New Delhi. I couldn't stand all the artificially created and unnecessary social inequities I saw. I was also first introduced to my lens of intersectionality as I saw how these inequalities were different and sometimes exacerbated based on social class, income levels, race, age, gender, marital status etc. My parents supported my curiosity by encouraging me to participate in activities like debates and writing contests. I developed role models who were primarily women dominating in what I saw as male-dominated fields such as public safety and journalism.
Establishing A Foundation Of Social Justice
I chose to attend Mount Holyoke College for my undergraduate education. I was inspired by the history and promise of the institution - Mount Holyoke is the first and oldest continuing women’s college that was established in 1837. The legacy of prioritizing and championing women’s education during a time where only men were allowed the privilege of higher education drew me to the institution. I was also inspired by the international student body - in fact, Mount Holyoke is known for being generous with financial aid to ensure a diverse student body.
My four years there expanded my views on the world, and brought me more comfort in my identity as a third-culture kid and global citizen, unbound by national borders and ethnocentric politics. I was actively involved with the Mount Holyoke Debate Society, which at the time only focused on U.S.-centric policy debates, and was losing membership. We revived the organization by expanding to topics of global policy, and encouraging more international students and women of color to participate in public-speaking.
How I Embrace Culture, Diversity, And Identity
I’ve always been aware of cultural differences and inequities, even from a young age. I noticed how the rules were different depending on which environment I was in. For me it is important to be able to show up as myself and be in a community that encourages and celebrates the unique gifts and traits of individuals.
I spent my early years in Doha and Dubai, living as the child of immigrants among other fellow immigrants. Whatever exposure I had to local Emiratis and Qataris was limited, and always carefully couched with a fear of stepping out of line. I was reminded that we didn’t have the same rights because we weren’t citizens. This inspired me to be active in voter activation efforts as an adult in the United States. In Texas, I organized voter education events and became a registered Deputy Voter Registrar (VDR) to register new voters, especially from underrepresented communities, across Travis and Dallas county.
Another initiative I took on was that of being a cultural ambassador for the realities of immigrants and third-culture kids like myself. This resulted in the creation of my tech startup Kaboo, and before that my bilingual childrens book series - Meet Buckley. Written in English and transliterated Hindi, the Buckley books were immediately successful among second generation South Asian Americans who wanted their young children to have a “Hindi” book to read independently.
Embracing a Non-Linear Career Path
Today I am Product Management leader, having built my career on layers of cross-functional and actionable experience within the technology industry. I am a product strategist, builder, and am obsessed with honing my craft with new projects. However, journey was non-linear, and involved grabbing opportunities for learning and new experiences.
Washington, D.C. - The start of my career
I felt determined to make the most of my opportunity to study and work in the U.S. Somehow, against all odds, I managed to get the kind of job I wished for in public policy. This was a big deal because as a non-US citizen, and without a STEM degress, that meant securing a highly competitive employment visa and going through the rigors of that process..
I was thrilled to work on domestic policy advocacy representing a range of issues. This included policies around senior care and fiscal policy, and also technology policy topics such as spectrum, grid modernization, and cybersecurity. I learned a lot about collaborating across broad audiences with the work I did to help push for rural broadband access and technology infrastructure upgrades. One of my proudest moments was seeing a major infrastructure bill pass that included provisions that my own team had worked tirelessly on, with countless filings and meetings in the journey.
The Accidental MBA Student
I had never expected to attend business school. I believed my background did not align with that of the typical business school student. I attended the George Washington University of Business because their coursework included topics such as social entrepreneurship, international development supported by corporate social responsibility. I was lucky to have professors with global perspectives and had the opportunity to complete coursework, internships that showed me different perspectives in ethical private-public partnership and business models that served the greater good, not just corporate interests. My MBA experience was life-changing, and laid the groundwork for my interest in entrepreneurship and building sustainable businesses. I graduated without loans, a result of both scholarships and attending school while working full-time. The next step was to pivot my career from policy and governance in DC, to business and innovation in the Bay Area.
Making the jump from Tech Policy to Startups
In the Bay Area, I got my first taste of the tech industry and the startup world. I chose to pursue roles that got me on the ground floor of startups. That kicked of four years of grueling and exciting experiences building two innovative products – an emotion-detection and classification algorithm for music; and a baby wearable that provided guidance to new parents on early childhood development milestone tracking. Working on the latter in particular introduced me to principles of product development from user problems validation, prototype development, user data gathering. It also introduced me to the world of kid-focused technology that is designed and developed to support positive outcomes for children and parents.
Bringing my experience to B2B SaaS
After San Francisco, I made another career pivot. I decided to gain more experience by working for businesses that had achieved Product-Market Fit, specifically B2B enterprise software products. This was a new challenge because user needs and product requirements work differently compared to B2C products.
My experience in DC managing and negotiating between multiple stakeholder needs was extraordinarily useful in this Tech Product. Enterprise products were typically sold to one part of a business who may have no idea of the realities of the department that actually ends up using that system. This inspired me to approach software sales and development in a way that broke those silos and connected different teams towards the same end-goal. The timing in the industry also favored me because of the growing emphasis on platforms and integrations, and the trend of self-service, user-friendly product onboarding.
Building and Launching My Own Product - Kaboo
In 2023, I took a page out of my own product playbook to launch my own startup - Kaboo - a B2C app to help the 300M diaspora families connect and build long-distance relationships. The idea behind Kaboo was offering an alternative to social media and commonly used digital platforms - and enabling tangible, physical mail exchanges that created more memories for diaspora children. Within two months of launching the MVP, Kaboo saw almost 1K users connecting with loved ones across six countries.
As a young startup, we continue to iterate and experiment with the product offering - including now offering a subscription service that sends card bundle boxes with season-appropriate blank cards; and a new B2B partnership offering being rolled out to limited kids-education-and-activity-focused businesses. I am bootstrapping Kaboo to make sure the focus is on value and sustainable growth.
Policy Advocate. Product Builder. Marketer. Entrepreneur. Children’s Book Author. Podcast Host. Global Citizen. Advocate for Civic and Voting Rights. Angel Investor. Product Coach and Consultant.